Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Shares Purchased by Creative Planning

Creative Planning raised its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 102,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,618 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 70,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 3,640 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gerdau by 16.0% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 33,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Gerdau by 20.0% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 5,460 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 27.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,558 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 41,560 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 6,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE GGB opened at $3.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a PE ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 1.74. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.92 and a twelve month high of $4.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 8.43%. Equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Gerdau Profile

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. The company operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business segments. It also provides semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles to the construction and manufacturing industries; drawn products comprising barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails, and clamps for manufacturing, construction, and agricultural industries; and special steel products used in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as in the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and other markets.